Parnell Woods

Parnell L. Woods

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 188 lb.
• High School Powderly High School
• Debut 1937
• Final Game 1945
• Born February 16, 1912 in Cordova, AL USA
• Died July 23, 1977 in Cleveland, OH USA

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Biographical Information

Parnell Woods a Negro League infielder for 14 years and a minor league infielder for one. A third baseman, Woods was a well-rounded player; James Riley says that his lone weakness was his throwing arm.

Woods broke in during 1933 with his hometown Birmingham Black Barons, who did not belong to an organized Negro League at the time. In 1937, they joined the Negro American League. Woods hit .266 and his 6 homers were second in the NAL behind future Hall-of-Famer Willard Brown.

Woods hit .243 for Birmingham in 1938. He made the East-West Game for the first of 6 times as an All-Star. In the second 1938 East-West Game, he pinch-hit for Frank Duncan in the 6th inning against Barney Brown and was retired.

In 1939, Parnell hit .304. His three triples tied Buck O'Neil, Double Duty Radcliffe and Henry Milton for the league lead. Woods received 496,774 votes for the 1939 East-West Games, fourth among all players behind Ted Strong, Pepper Bassett and Alex Radcliffe. In the first 1939 East-West Game, Woods replaced Alex Radcliffe at third when Radcliffe moved to short. Woods had a sacrifice hit in his lone plate appearance of a 4-2 win. In the second 1939 East-West Game, he did not play for the West in a 10-2 loss.

During the 1939-1940 winter, Woods hit .269 for Ponce in the Puerto Rican League. In 1940, he hit .318 for the Cleveland Bears. Woods hit second for the West in the 1940 East-West Game, playing third base. He was 1 for 4 in a 11-0 loss. In 1941, he led all third basemen with 201,435 votes for the East-West Game. He went 0 for 4 and drove in a run in a 8-3 loss. Now with the Jacksonville Red Caps, he was 2 for 10 in the regular season.

Woods began 1942 with Jacksonville before joining the Cincinnati Buckeyes as player-manager; at 30 years of age, he was the youngest manager in the Negro Leagues at the time. He hit .369 for Cincinnati. He made his 5th straight All-Star team, again leading third basemen in votes (106,332). Woods was 1 for 3 with a triple, run and RBI in a 5-2 loss in the first 1942 East-West Game in producing all the West runs from the #2 slot of the order. In the 3rd inning, he hit into a fielder's choice to scored Fred Bankhead to make it 1-1. Three innings later, down 2-1, he tripled to center and scored on a ground out. He was 0 for 2 in the second 1942 East-West Game before being replaced by Marlin Carter. It would be nine years before he would return to the All-Star showcase at which he had been a mainstay for half a decade.

In 1943, the Buckeyes moved to Cleveland. Woods hit .277 for the new Cleveland Buckeyes. In 1944, he batted .329, third in the NAL behind Sam Jethroe and Artie Wilson. He was replaced as manager by Biz Mackey following that season.

Concentrating on playing in 1945, Woods hit .335 and stole 16 bases, third in the league behind Jethroe and Art Pennington. Parnell helped lead Cleveland to the 1945 Negro World Series; he was just 2 for 15 in that event but Cleveland still swept the Homestead Grays to take the title. After that, Woods became a bench player from 1946-1948.

In 1946-1947, Woods hit .354 in the Venezuelan Winter League and led the circuit in doubles. In the Cuban Players League in 1947-1948, he started out with Santiago and then joined Cuba after Santiago folded. Woods hit .258 at the latter stop.

Despite being 37 years of age, Woods came to Organized Baseball in 1949, signing with the Oakland Oaks. Backing up Cookie Lavagetto and Dario Lodigiani at third base, Woods hit .275/~.320/.418 in 40 games. Given that performance in arguably the top minor league of the era and his age, it is very likely Woods would have been a major league quality player in his prime.

Woods returned to the Negro Leagues with the Memphis Red Sox of 1950 and hit just .174. In 1951, he wrapped up his career with the Chicago American Giants. He went 0 for 3 in the 1951 East-West Game and drew a walk. He returned to his old spot as the #2 hitter and third baseman for the West. Overall, Woods was only 2 for 17 with a triple and a steal in his 7 East-West Games.

After his baseball career ended, Woods was business manager of the Harlem Globetrotters for 27 years, until his death.

Notable Achievements

• 5-time NAL All-Star (1938-1942)
• NAL Slugging Percentage Leader (1944)
• NAL OPS Leader (1944)
• NAL Doubles Leader (1944)
• Won one Negro World Series with the Cleveland Buckeyes in 1945
• NAL Pennants: 2 (1942 & 1943)

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1942	Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes	Negro American League	32-31	1st	Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes	League Champs	Replaced Walter Burch (13-9)
1943	Cleveland Buckeyes	Negro American League	49-34	1st	Cleveland Buckeyes	League Champs
1944	Cleveland Buckeyes	Negro American League	35-33	3rd	Cleveland Buckeyes

Sources

• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• Black Baseball's National Showcase by Larry Lester
• 1949 PCL season for Diamond Mind Baseball by Stephen Davis

Related Sites

• BR Manager page